Unaware
by aebteach
Summary: An Adult Bella's life comes crashing down around her. Trying to escape, she goes to Alaska and stumbles upon something she shouldn't have. It's not all mature, but there is some language and I have plans for "other" things. Based on Twilight characte
1. Chapter 1

Have you ever had your life just where you wanted it, only to have the bottom fall out around you? Well that's what happened to me. I had a job I loved, I was seeing someone who made me feel great about myself, I had a little apartment that fit me perfectly and I was happy. Apparently, somewhere in the big picture, that was not meant for me. I wish I could say that it happened slowly; that I was able to see it coming and be prepared but this pretty much hit me like a bullet train.

I was teaching 2nd grade in a small rural town in Oregon. It was home to a small college that actually doubled the population of the town when in session. Despite the college, the town was just what you would imagine a sleepy little town to be. The town was actually a dry town, which took care of the college students on the weekends. They would leave find somewhere to go to drink and party. We had one stoplight and had to go into the next town if you wanted a decent size grocery store. You could practically see the sidewalks roll up when the sun went down. It was quiet, polite and suited me just fine.

I had attended the college where I got my degree in education. I student taught at the only elementary school in town and when I graduated I took over for my Master Teacher who decided to retire and move to somewhere without so much rain.

I sublet a little garage apartment above someone's garage. It was small but it suited my needs just fine.

Recently I decided to try online dating. There weren't very many men in this town around my age. The college students rarely stayed after graduation and even if they did, where exactly was I supposed to meet anyone? I don't drink, even if there was somewhere in town where you could go do that. I was way to clumsy to even consider dancing anywhere except my apartment while I cleaned. A social butterfly I was not, my weekends usually consisted of cleaning, grading papers and reading a good book.

So one Saturday afternoon, after putting down a particularly romantic novel, I was feeling pretty lonely and decided to give online dating a try. After a few weeks, I hadn't meant anyone very promising, at least no one I was willing to meet in person, when I received a message from a man who said he lived in a nearby town. He attached a picture and I have to say I was immediately intrigued. He was 29, just a few years older than me; he was at least six feet taller, probably closer to 6'4. His blond hair was short and messy, his eyes were a deep blue and he had an incredible smile. He looked vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn't place it. He said his name was Thomas and he was a banker. In his free time, he played the drums, enjoyed the beach and cooking.

After a few emails, we decided to meet for coffee in a nearby city. We hit it off immediately. He was sweet and funny. We got along great. I suppose I should have realized something was wrong after a few months when I had never seen his house. He had been to my apartment several times, always coming after dark though. He also seemed uneasy whenever I talked about my school and my students. It was never anything obvious, just a look I saw on his face sometimes.

Everything went to hell in mid-November during parent conferences.

Thankfully, it was my last scheduled conference. If it hadn't been, well it could have been even worse.

I was waiting for my last set of parents, the parents of a little boy named Dominic. It was going to be an easy conference, Dominic was well behaved, intelligent and a joy to have in class.

I was waiting outside the door of my classroom when I saw Thomas striding across the parking lot. A huge smile broke across my face, he had never come to my school before, I didn't know he knew where it was. I raised my hand to wave, but he didn't return it. His face was set and he looked very uncomfortable.

As he approached me, I saw Dominic's mother also crossing the parking lot.

"I'm so glad you are here," I said to him as he came to stand in front of me, "I have one more conference, can you wait a few minutes?"

He didn't answer me.

Dominic's mother approached me now, "Ms. Swan, how are you?"

"I'm great," I replied.

"Ms. Swan, have you met Dominic's father, my husband Thomas?"

Dominic's father, her husband? Suddenly, the world began to sway around me. I swiftly forgot how to breathe. I forced myself to look at him. His eyes where staring at the ground and he was shifting uncomfortable on his feet.

Dominic's mother looked at me curiously, "Ms. Swan are you okay?"

"You're married?" I croaked out, "You are the father of one of my students?"

Dominic's mother looked very confused, "What's going on, do you two know each other?"

I laughed, I couldn't help it, I just laughed.

"You are cheating on your wife," I spat out.

"How did you know that? Did Dominic say something?" his mother asked looking horrified.

"You liar," I accused, "You lied to me."

"He lied to you? What the hell is going one?" Dominic's mother asked her voice getting louder.

By this time, the teachers on either side of my room had heard the commotion and come out of their rooms to see what was going on,

Suddenly, a light seemed to go off in Dominic's mother's mind.

"You are her," she screeched at me.

I finally realized she was standing there and turned to face her.

"You are the other woman, the woman who is wrecking my family!"

"I didn't know," I replied meekly, "he didn't tell me he was married."

She was furious, "you have been seeing my husband."

"I didn't know," I repeated, the tears threatening to fall.

"Bullshit," she screamed, "His picture was on Dominic's family tree, you had to know."

Suddenly the realization hit me, why he had looked familiar to me, why he always looked uncomfortable when I talked about my class, he had been in Dominic's family picture.

"I am so sorry," I stammered, "I swear I didn't recognize him."

"And you," she screeched finally turning to her husband, "Did you know you were dating our son's teacher?"

"Trudy," he started.

"Did you know?" she screamed.

"Not at first," came his reply.

"I think perhaps, we need to take this conversation somewhere else," a voice spoke.

I turned to see my principal looking at me grimly and my stomach dropped.

"You bastard," Trudy shrieked at her husband before turning on her heel and leaving.

"Thomas?" I said.

"Bella, I'm sorry I should have told you."

"Told me? Told me what? That you were married, that you were the father of one of my students, or that I was the other woman," I screamed, tears streaking down my face.

"Ms. Swan," a stern voice interrupted, "this is not the place."

I looked up at my principal and nodded, "I'm sorry Sir."

Thomas turned and hurried after his wife. I followed my principal into the office.

I spent the weekend crying. Mourning the loss of my relationship, my stupidity, my guilt.

Monday morning came no matter how much I prayed that it wouldn't.

I stood at my door, half-heartedly welcoming my students. I stared off at nothing, avoiding the stares of parents and co-workers. I could see them whispering and pointing. Needless to say Dominic was not in school that day.

The rest of the week went pretty much the same. I tried to half-heartedly to be cheerful for my students, but even their eyes were accusing.

Friday after school my principal called me into his office. He understood that the situation was not my fault, that I had been unaware of Thomas's true identity. However, the school board felt that my little situation was bringing undo scandal to the school and was asking for my immediate resignation.

"Bella, I am sorry," my principal started.

"I understand," I whispered, "I'll get my personal things out by the end of the day."

The drive home Friday was a blur; I left my boxes in the car, not able to carry them inside. I climbed to stairs to my apartment and noticed an envelope taped to the outside of my door. Pulling it off, I opened it and read the type in disbelief.

It was a notice of eviction; I was being kicked out of my apartment.

Turning around I walked to the main house and knocked on the door.

My landlady opened the door, "Hello Isabella," she greeted me tersely.

I held up the letter, "I wanted to ask you about this."

She sighed and indicated for me to come in.

I sat on a chair and waited.

"Have you ever seen a picture of my sister Margaret?"

I shook my head, "I don't think I have Mrs. Newton."

She handed me a framed picture. In the picture was Mrs. Newton, a woman I assumed was her sister Margaret, another woman, probably in her mid-50's and then I woman I recognized all to well.

"That is me, my sister Margaret, her daughter Elise and her granddaughter Trudy."

'Trudy is your great niece," I replied softly.

She nodded.

"I'll be out by the end of the weekend," I replied softly, handing her the picture and walking out the door.

That's how the house of cards that was my life not only fell, but went up in flames at the same time.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I have never hiked before so be kind if you have**

Two days later I had my few possessions packed into the back of my truck, the apartment has been furnished, so the furniture stayed where it was and I was leaving my sleepy little town, the job I loved, the man I thought cared about me and the little apartment that had fit me perfectly. I had no idea where to go; I just got on the highway and headed north.

Eventually I reached the Oregon/Washington border. I stopped at a small hotel and collapsed into a fitful sleep. The next morning I got up and kept driving. I passed through Canada around mid-day. I stopped again around dark in Prince George and found another hotel. This time I couldn't sleep. Across the street was an internet café and I went inside. I had better decide exactly where I was going.

After several hours, I settled on Anchorage. I didn't know why I chose Anchorage. It just seemed to stand out to me.

It took me another day and a half before I reached Anchorage. I found another hotel on the outskirts of town, away from the city life and there I stayed. Wednesday night became Thursday afternoon and Thursday afternoon became Friday morning, yet I refused to leave my hotel room. I had some food in a cooler from my refrigerator back home. Finally Saturday morning, I pulled myself out of bed, took a quick shower and left the room. If I was going to stay in Anchorage, I had to find somewhere to live.

Eventually I came across a quaint little townhouse. It was near the outskirts of town. It was just over 600 square feet, 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, a small kitchen and a little living room. The kitchen had stainless steel appliances and corian countertops. The bedroom had a queen size sleigh bed with a rich cherry finish. There was a matching dresser and nightstand. In the living room there was a small flat screen TV, which I would probably rarely watch, and a chocolate brown couch. There was a small round pedestal dining table, also in cherry wood, in the dining area.

Fortunately, my job had not been my sole means of finances. I had a small inheritance, which while not much, would help keep me on my feet until I was able to find another job. I paid first and last months rent and by Sunday I had moved in.

By Monday I was online with my laptop looking for jobs in the area. Unfortunately for me, not many schools were hiring this far into the school year. Frustrated, I decided to try and find something to take my mind of things. After surfing many sites about things to do in Anchorage, I decided I was going to do something completely out of my comfort zone, something so far off of what I normally do that it was guaranteed to take my mind off the flaming wreckage of my life. I was going to go hiking.

The next morning I was standing inside REI unsure of what I needed. Finally I stopped a friendly looking sales associate and told them my plan, leaving out the part about not knowing what I was doing.

A hour later I left with a backpack, 2 canteens, compass, flashlight, pocket knife, first aid kit, bear repellent, fire starting tools, a new jacket, hiking boots and a GPS system.

Next I stopped at the grocery store for hiking food, granola, power bars, trail mix, crackers, dried fruit and some candy bars.

I went to bed early that night and by Wednesday morning I was heading for Temptation Peak. I didn't know much about the hiking here, my first mistake, I just liked the name and off I went.

Now you would think that as a teacher, the fact that Alaska gets very little sun in the winter would have entered my mind, it didn't. That was my second mistake.

It was light out when I started, it was a little overcast but according to the weatherman the rain was going to hold, I believed him. That was my third mistake

Around noon I came across a beautiful sight. Hidden in the shadow of Temptation peak was a beautiful tarn. It was a deep aqua green and surrounded by near vertical walls of rock. Stopping for some lunch I gazed over the tranquil water lost in my own thoughts, oblivious to the clouds that were rolling in.

Eventually I got up and continued my journey, heading east around the south side of the tarn I began the climb to Temptation's Summit. When I reached the summit I was in awe of the beauty around me. The valleys and peaks below were breath taking and after snapping some pictures with my digital camera and signing the register I started my decent.

I was about half way down when the rain started. Fat drops began pelting me as I picked my way back down towards the tarn I had stopped at earlier. Now to say that I am not a graceful person is an understatement. Frankly the fact that I had made it to the summit without falling or tripping at least once was a miracle. By the time I made it to the bottom I was soaking wet and barely able to keep my footing. To make things even worse it had slowly gotten darker as I had progressed down the path.

By the time I made it back to the tarn it was almost to dark to see it.

"Why the hell is it so dark, its only 4 in the afternoon," I grumbled to myself.

Now had I done a more thorough job with my research, I might have discovered that the sun sets around 4 in the afternoon in Anchorage in the middle of November.

Feeling frustrated with myself I found a fallen tree and sat down. The tranquility I had found earlier had disappeared as the rain continued its assault and thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Great, could this get any better?" I asked myself.

I practically jumped out of my skin as lightening flashed across the sky.

"I guess that's my answer."

Knowing I had to get back to my car, I stood up and tried to pick my way back down the gully I had climbed to the valley floor below. Thankfully the gully was somewhat shallow and I only managed to fall twice before making it down. Once I was at the valley floor I knew I had at least another 4 miles to go before I made it back to my car.

The trek that had seemed so fun this morning now was very daunting as I tried to find my way back in the rain and the dark. I walked for another two hours before I decided I was lost. Nothing around me looked familiar. Not that I could see anything anyway. I was soaked to the core and tears of frustration were streaming down my face.

A noise in the nearby trees sent my heart racing. Whipping my head around, I tried to find the source of the noise.

"Please be a squirrel or a bunny, please be a squirrel or a bunny," I chanted.

A low growl from behind me stopped my chant.

I turned around slowly but saw nothing. Then it growled again. Suddenly the sky around me lit up and illuminated the creature. Less the a hundred yards away and moving in my direction was a bear.

"Please God, let it be quick," I prayed as it growled again.

Throwing down my backpack, I ran. I ran through the trees, stumbling and sliding as I tried to remain on my feet. I could hear it crashing through the brush behind me. Then it happened, as if in slow motion, I felt my feet slipping from underneath me, I threw out my hands to brace my fall, screaming as I went down.

Then I could feel it, the hot breath of the bear on my neck. Lightening flashed again and this time it was right above me, teeth bared, paw raised.

I lifted my hand to protect my face and waited for the pain to come. It didn't.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked.

I opened my eyes and in the darkness I could make out the outline of a person standing over me.

"Am I dead?" I asked.

The person chuckled, "I don't think so."

"The bear," I said shakily.

"It's gone, I scared it off."

Lightening lit about the sky again and I could see the most gorgeous looking man staring down at me, looking very concerned.

"Are you okay?" he repeated, reaching down in the dark to pull me to my feet.

"I don't feel so well," I murmured softly before fainting into his arms.


End file.
